Happily Ever After
by xxstarryflamexx
Summary: Because in spite of everything, they still lived happily ever after. A series of drabbles based on Faramir/Eowyn's married life.
1. Prologue

He saw her walking down the aisle in her white dress. Her golden hair was decorated with flowers, the same flowers that had graced the garden of the Houses of Healing. The first time he had came back to her after telling her that he had loved her, he had plucked one of those flowers from the bushes and placed it on her hair.

Now on their wedding day, she was wearing those flowers, not only in her hair but on her wedding gown as well. In fact, her whole persona seems to glow. Perhaps it was the pains that she had to sit through to look good on this special day or the smile on her face. Either way, she looked happier than she did for a long time.

He realized the cause of her joy and he understands. For he is happy as well.


	2. Adjustments

She is no longer at home.

She knows that she is not one of them and they know that she is not one of them. She feels out of place with them, especially when she accompanies him to the cold city, as she has lately taken to call it.

They watch her as she sits next to him in court, whispers surrounding all sides of the room. Despite the king and queen's best efforts to shield her away from all of their frosty words, it is no use. She still hears the words as clearly and as distinctly as the whistles to call a horse.

He pays no attention to it, saying that it is nonsense. But she listens and wonders if what they say is true.

They say that she married him out of relief and that he married her out of pity. They still fabricate stories about her secret desires to be a queen. The current queen looks disapprovingly at the murmurs and tries to put the fire out. But she cannot be so well assured.

She appreciates the queen's efforts and tells her not to worry. She knows her place and she is happy with it.


	3. Second Best

He sees her laughing with the king and feels a twinge of familiarity. They are at a dinner with the king and once again, someone he loves so dearly is not favoring him as much as someone else. Being a man who reads hearts easily, he thought that he had read hers. Perhaps he had been wrong. He doubts himself once again and wishes that he were someone else.

'My lord,' she says suddenly, her hand on his arm. It is gentle and warm, so unlike his father's hand on his arm. 'Is something the matter? You have been quiet all evening.'

He noticed that she is no longer talking to the king.

'How can one talk when one is sitting next to a lady beautiful beyond renown?' He says.

She is not distracted by his compliment, even though he is telling her the truth. 'Please tell me what is wrong. I know it has something to do with me and I wish that it were out in the open between us. You know that I do not enjoy hiding.'

He sighed. 'Yes, I do know. However, I do not believe that this has more to do with you than it has to do with me. Forgive me for being so distant about this matter; it is simply something I have to come to terms with myself.'

She watches him as he speaks and notices that he is looking at the king sitting at the head of the table. She suddenly realizes that he has been listening to the rumors lately. She remembers his silences when she talks to the king and understands now.

'Do not be alarmed, husband. You used to believe that it was all nonsense. Have you turned so quickly?'

He glances at her startled. 'Aye, I believed that. You were in grief then and you turned to me because I knew what you had been going through. Now that the Shadow has departed, is it his turn now?'

She flinches at the bitterness in his voice. 'No.'

'How can you be so sure?'

She paused before replying as if considering her words. When she has made up her mind, she looked at him with sincerity in her grey eyes. 'My Shadow has already departed when he came back.'

When he saw her talking to the king later that night, he joined in and the king smiled.


	4. Haunted

He is turning in his sleep again. He has been having nightmares as of late and every time, it worries her. He calls out for his brother, his mother and sometimes his father too. He is under the Shadow again in his dreams and she cannot bring him out of it.

'Why do you call to people who can no longer hear?' She asks him one morning. They are sitting in their gardens, him leaning against a tree and she on his lap.

He looks at her puzzled. 'What do you mean?'

She is quiet for a moment, complementing his answer. 'Do you not hear yourself at night? You call for your family.'

His eyes clouded. He is silent and cannot speak.

'Do you not trust me to tell me?' her voice breaks his thoughts. It is soft and she sounds hurt. He sighed and does not know what to say. He does not want to burden his wife with tales of woe of his childhood.

'It is not that.' He says. He ran his hands through her golden hair and looks up at the sky. 'The sea is not far away. It was far away in the White City. Here there are trees and birds, white like the seagulls by the seaside. There is peace here, something that the White City has never felt for so long. I wished that _she_ had survived the Black Shadow from the East.'

She listens to him talk and leans back against him. She does not understand the words he is saying; it is almost like he is talking to himself. He has been this way lately and she worries for him.

She worries that she cannot bring him back to her.


	5. Breaking Barriers

He took her to the White City later. She was silent the entire time and he worries. He knows that she is not uncomfortable there, but she has to understand.

'This is where I spend my childhood.' He told her.

She nods and starts to look at the City in a new light. She waits for him to continue talking about his childhood for she is curious about the little boy who grew up to be her husband. He does not disappoint. He points along various points of interest on their way to the Steward's House and the White Tower.

He mostly talks about trivial things and she is hurt. Will he ever open up to her truly? Will he ever trust her?

...

He is thoughtful. He ponders whether if he should tell her about his mad father and his longing mother. He is comfortable with what they have and does not want to break it for anything. But yet something is missing and he knows that their relationship will never work if he does not open up to her about his past.

She deserves to know. And so, he decides to tell her.

He takes her arm and leads her to the White Tower. He shows her the place where his father used to sit, where the king sits now. He tells her of memories in that great wide hall.

She listens to him.

He sees that and smiles. She understands.


End file.
